


and mother makes three

by WattStalf



Series: Medical Malpractice OTP [24]
Category: Durarara!!
Genre: F/M, Gen, family stuff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-29
Updated: 2016-11-29
Packaged: 2018-09-03 03:19:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,317
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8694343
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WattStalf/pseuds/WattStalf
Summary: I just...don't think I know how to be a mother to them.





	

**Author's Note:**

> I dunnoooooooooooooooooooo I love Emilia and I love to write about this fucking family stop me kill me now

Settling in with her new family is a big adjustment for Emilia, but she does everything she can to try to make it a pleasant adjustment, not just for her but for her new children. She gets the impression that her own first impression wasn't the best one, though she isn't exactly sure what she did wrong. When she tried to ask Shingen about it on their first date in the city, he brushed it off, claiming that they were always like that, and that he probably got the cold shoulder even worse than she did.

However, she isn't willing to give up so easily, and she's determined to make sure they warm up to her. That's the only way she can be a good mother to them, and she won't give up until she's become the best mother she can be. After all, Shingen's given her the family she wants, and she can't just let that go to waste.

Not to mention the fact that she needs all the practice she can get. It might be a while now, since they aren't together quite as often as they once were, but she and Shingen _are_ trying for a baby, and she wants to be ready for that as well. In the early days of her move, she tries to spend as little time at work as possible, so that she can hurry home to her family, though that means she doesn't often get much done in the labs.

She can afford to slack off a little bit, considering she doesn't have anyone else working with her right now, and because Shingen is her supervisor for this and even if he stopped by to check on her, she doubted he would scold her for being a little bit behind, especially if it's only for the sake of his son. And, of course, if there's anyone she can sweet talk into going easy on her, it's her husband.

In the early days, she tries to help out with making dinner for them, but Celty doesn't eat and, after a few meals that Shinra barely finishes, he insists that she doesn't need to keep doing that. He claims that he prefers to go out to eat, but she isn't sure if she believes him or not.

“Meals are not appealing,” she says. “I will teach me a new way?”

“You don't need to worry about that,” he replies with a smile that seems just the slightest bit forced. “I'm sure you're busy enough with work, anyway.”

She doesn't cook often for Shingen, because they really  _are_ very busy with work, and it's often much easier for one of them to pick something up on the way home, but on the rare occasion she did, he never once complained. Maybe he was just being nice to her, but it's too late to think about that now. She simply apologizes to Shinra and moves on, trying to think of new ways to be useful while she's staying in his apartment.

When she gets home early from work to find that neither of them are there, she cleans the apartment from top to bottom, putting in more effort than she has in a long time. Back home, Shingen would usually come in behind while she was doing the chores and insist that he helped, and would end up taking on the bulk of the work.

At least with that, she _knows_ that he was just being nice, because, if she isn't doing something scientific, she's klutzier than she'd like to admit. Now that she doesn't have her husband following behind her and helping her, she trips over the vacuum cord and kicks over a bucket of water while mopping, and hits herself in the face with the duster so many times that she has to sit down for a moment to calm her sneezing fit.

Eventually, she manages to get it all done, though she isn't sure if it looks all that different for the amount of work she's done. Maybe it wasn't that dirty to begin with, and most of her effort just went into cleaning up her own messes. She sighs, sitting back and staring at the ceiling and missing all the little things that came with living with Shingen that she has to go without now. It isn't that she's unhappy to be with the rest of her family, but she will never be able to stop herself from missing her husband when they're apart.

Celty is the first home, and Emilia runs to greet her as she always does, and Celty flinches back to avoid a hug, as she always does. She keeps forgetting that they aren't as fond of physical affection as she would have expected, and she tries to remind herself to dial it back a bit.

“The living room is dusted,” she announces. “I used a vacuum and a mop. The kitchen is also done.”

“ _Wait, do you mean you cleaned the apartment?_ ” Celty types.

“The main rooms only,” she replies with a nod. “Private areas were not touched!”

“ _You know you don't have to do things like that. Not that I don't appreciate it, of course, but aren't you busy?_ ”

“The mother's job!” She grins, but internally, she's worried; is Celty not actually excited about what she's done for her? “Someday tasks will earn me love.”

“ _This isn't just a way to guilt me into agreeing to your research, is it?_ ”

Emilia's face falls, for two reasons; first, the fact that Celty is still refusing to take part, even though Shingen had assured her that this would be easy, and second, because she really believes that Emilia only did this to trick her. After putting in hours of work, she's no closer to her goal, and she wonders if Shinra is going to have the same reaction. It's hard not to get discouraged at this rate.

“My only goal is love,” she insists. “Are there additional tasks?”

“ _Nothing that I can think of. And, anyway, you don't need to do the chores around here. Shinra and I already have a system figured out for that, so there's no need for you to try to do it all yourself. Besides, aren't you supposed to be at work right now? Did you get the day off early and waste it cleaning up for us?_ ”

She knows that, at this point, Celty is just being considerate, but it hurts nonetheless, knowing that she can't even do _this_ for them. It's all she can do not to tear up in front of Celty, and she shakes her head, saying, “No trouble, but there is still work. I am going now.”

With that, she gets her things together and heads off to the lab so that she can start to catch up on the work she's been putting off to spend time with them. She plans on staying until it gets late, but once she sits down, she isn't able to concentrate on anything at all. All she wants is to see Shingen; all she wants is to be with the person she feels the most comfortable with, the one who always loved her attempts at house keeping, even when they weren't the best, the one who always makes her feel happy and loved, no matter what the circumstance.

Even if she can't see him, she decides that she can't go without at least hearing his voice and, rather than getting to work, she picks up the phone and calls him, hoping that he isn't too busy to talk. Fortunately for her, he picks up on the second ring, and she hears his familiar, muffled voice.

“Pumpkin?”

She feels herself smiling at the same time that she feels tears well up and spill down her cheeks. “Apologizing for calling you, there was no warning,” she mumbles, not even thinking about what she's speaking.

“You know you can call me at any time,” he replies in English, reminding her that, at least with him, she can speak more comfortably. “That's one of the perks of being my wife, you know! Access to me whenever and wherever you want it!” He laughs at himself, and at that, she really begins to cry.

“Emilia? Are you crying?” he asks, his tone shifting to one of worry.

“N-no, I'm not crying, I'm just....” she starts to lie, but she knows, already, that it's no use. If anyone is able to see through her, it's Shingen. “I'm only crying a little bit, okay? I miss you a lot, and hearing you...I'm sorry, I don't want to make you worry!”

“Is that all that's going on?” he asks. “Do you just miss me, or is there something else on your mind?”

“Well...” She hesitates to admit the problem to him, not wanting him to know of all her domestic failings, but she has to talk to _someone_ , and he is really the only one. “Moving in isn't very easy for me. I don't think the kids like me very much.”

“Huh? Have they been mean to you? Don't tell me that damned Celty is still refusing to let you slice her open for your research! I can try to have a word with her, though I'm not too keen on showing myself around there right now...”

“It isn't that! I mean, we're still working out a deal for that,” she says quickly. “I just...don't think I know how to be a mother to them.”

“Is my son mistreating you?” asks Shingen. “Or is Celty so jealous to have a woman in the house that she's bullying you? Whatever those ungrateful brats are up to, I promise you I'll put a stop to it!”

She can't tell if he's seriously this mad or putting on a lot of bravado to cheer her up, but either way, she sniffs and wipes at her eyes, doing what she can to stop herself from crying. “It's my own fault,” she replies. “I can't cook for them, and they don't need me to clean for them, and I don't know what else I'm supposed to do! I just wanted to talk to you, because you always make me feel better.”

“Pumpkin, I'm happy to cheer you up whenever you need it,” he says in a warm tone of voice. “However, I think I'm also going to have to offer you some practical advice here. Shinra and Celty have been living alone together for quite some time. Even when he was still a boy, my work kept me away from home a lot. They've got their routines and systems figured out, and have done fairly well without a mother around, or even a father around.

“It's taking you time to get used to living with them, but it's taking _them_ time to get used to having someone else around. Not to mention the fact that they're both past growing up, and don't need the sort of attention that you want to give them.” Shingen pauses for a moment to let her think about all of that before he speaks again. “Remember that you're younger than them, and that they aren't going to need your guidance as much as you want to give it. You're an excellent mother, Emilia. They're just not children anymore, that's all.”

She nods before remembering that he can't see her, and wipes more of her tears away. “I know you're right, it's just that I hoped maybe...I could still do all of those things, even if they didn't need me. But I don't want them to think of me as an intruder. Do you think they hate me?”

“Hate you? Nonsense! I don't think anyone could hate someone as sweet and adorable as you!' Whether he's just trying to flatter her or not, she still giggles. “Why don't you just give it a little more time before you get too discouraged? You've got to all get to know each other, and figure out what it's going to be like to live together.”

“Thank you,” she says softly. “I'll do my best with them, okay? And I'll try not to let myself get down about it again!”

“That's my girl! But, you know, whenever you _do_ get down, about this or anything else, you've always got my phone number. And even though I'm not living there with you, I'm hoping to be able to take some time to come visit you very soon. I hope that can become a routine for us.”

Her spirits are lifted as soon as she hears this, and all Emilia can think about is how great it will be to get to see Shingen again soon. “I can't wait to see you!” she says, and from the sound of her voice, it is hard to tell that she was crying only a few moments ago.

“And I can't wait to see you, pumpkin,” he replies.

~X~

From that point on, she backs off a little bit, and stops cutting corners on her work in order to come home early. They've proven to her that they don't need her to go to that extra trouble, and she can't allow her job to suffer any further anyway. She doesn't let herself get discouraged that they don't need her for those basic jobs, and she tries not to miss Shingen too much, or to at least call him when things start to get bad.

Emilia settles in with her family, even though it is a rather big adjustment, and the three of them find their routine. She can't quite tell how they feel about her, but she no longer gets the feeling that they dislike her, and she thinks that things are going to work out just fine.

All that's left is to finally convince them to refer to her as their mother.

 


End file.
